Large companies have always had the edge when it comes to
recruiting-their substantial budgets allow them to find new
employees near and far. But the Internet is leveling that playing
field, offering new ways for up-and-coming entrepreneurs to promote
their businesses to job candidates. Today, even the smallest
company can ad-vertise jobs on a Web site, go to recruiting sites
such as Monster.com to post job openings or use mailing lists to
get the word out. "For smaller businesses, the Net has
decreased the barriers [to recruiting] and put them at the starting
gate with larger employers," says Steve Pollock, 38,
co-founder and president of WetFeet.com, a privately held,
5-year-old online provider of company, industry and career
information in San Francisco.

Not only is the Net making it easier for small companies to
promote job openings to Web-savvy job seekers, it's also
speeding entrepreneurs toward the day when they can interview in
real-time over the Net. The increasing power of computers, along
with the growing availability of faster and cheaper high-speed
Internet connections, will let entrepreneurs use live streaming
video-digitally transmitted pictures that can be seen over a
computer-to "meet" and weed out job applicants.

"In the very near future, phoning in for an interview over
the computer will be commonplace," says Ken Ramberg, 35,
co-founder of JOBTRACK.COM, an Internet-based service in Los
Angeles that connects college graduates on campuses nationwide with
potential employers through job listings. "[Online
interviewing] will be a major benefit to small employers," he
says, "who, in the past, have been limited by money and a
local pool of employees."

Now You See It

For many entrepreneurs, posting jobs and sifting through the
resulting resumes is only half the battle. Assuming you find
prom-ising applicants, you still have to set up interviews. But
what if, thanks to the Net, you're getting resumes from
Portland, Maine, and you're in Portland, Oregon? Such
situations have happened to Tena Hoke, 40, president and co-founder
of EASE Software, a 10-year-old software engineering company in
Beaverton, Oregon, thanks to a job link on its Web site.
"We've gotten resumes from ev-erywhere-Canada, Russia, the
UK and all over the U.S.," Hoke says. "At first, I was
amazed, but now it's run-of-the-mill. We usually send out a
canned response [to long-distance applicants] because it's too
much of a problem to connect."

For budget-minded entrepreneurs, streaming video will let you
interview potential employees in real time when face-to-face
meetings are too challenging or expensive. With streaming video,
both parties "dial in" to the same Internet connection so
they can see and hear each other during the interview. Some
software programs, like Microsoft's NetMeeting, even let both
sides share resumes and other documents on-screen.

Another advantage: Online interviewing puts a face to a voice,
and might even help determine whether it's worth the trouble to
meet the candidate up close. "Streaming video would give us
the opportunity to look at several candidates over the span of one
hour, saving time, and, maybe in the long run, some money,"
says Steve Bradley, 37, CEO of RAC Solutions, a Bethesda, Maryland,
company that provides customized com-puting services. He hasn't
used streaming video for interviews yet because he still tends to
recruit locally, but he's excited about its potential as his
company expands. "Resumes and phone interviews alone don't
do it for me," he says. "I need to see the person.
Streaming video could be an added tool, a way to expedite the
process."

The technology for streaming video has been around for a few
years, but its market is small because most Internet connections
are still too slow to support the large amount of digital
information being sent and received. Today, people using slower
Internet connections get grainy, slow video that lags behind the
audio. This can be difficult for some people to handle. "The
participants end up communicating via the audio," says Rick
Pittson, product manager of Viewcast, a Dallas company that
designs, manufactures and markets high-quality, standards-based
video commu-nications solutions for businesses.

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill MBA student Shannon
Smith, 30, got some experience with online interviewing when she
was on a European exchange program to the Netherlands in the fall
of 1999. While there, she applied over the Net for jobs with
various U.S. companies. She ended up doing preliminary interviews
with some larger employers, live and online from videoconferencing
facilities at her host school. Smith found the experience
disjointed because the pictures and sound were out of synch.
"I couldn't even look at [the interviewer] or I
wouldn't hear the question," she says. "But at the
same time, it was neat to see who I was talking to. The tech-nology
is slow right now, but it will improve."

Ken Auer, 37, CEO of RoleModel Software Inc., a software company
in Holly Springs, North Carolina, says that meeting someone via
live video would be cheaper than flying the applicant out to
interview, and could be useful if the person needs to do something
that can't be done over the phone, like making a presentation
on a white board. But Auer says he'll wait for the technology
to improve. He adds that he'd never hire someone on the spot
solely on the basis of an online video interview. "I'm not
against [online interviewing]," he says, "but I'd
need that face-to-face time before hiring, to let the person be
around the others in the company beforehand."

Getting Started

If you think streaming video might eventually work for your
business, here's what you'll need to get started: Internet
access, conferencing software, a microphone, speakers and a video
camera. The good news is, most of the hardware necessary is fairly
inexpensive. Video cameras for computer use cost as little as $50,
and microphones are even cheaper. Buying a headset with a built-in
microphone is a good investment, because that will eliminate audio
distortions. And the faster your computer and Internet connection,
the better your experience with digital video will be.

There are a bunch of software options out there, the most
well-known being Microsoft's NetMeeting (which comes bundled
with Windows) and White Pine Software's CU-SeeMe (available for
both Mac and PC). But be aware of compatibility issues, because
some programs only work when the other party uses certain types of
software. So ask a sales rep what the person at the other end of
the connection needs to have in order to conference with you.

If setting up your own system sounds like a hassle, there are
other options. With visitalk.com, PC customers are assigned free
personal com-munications numbers-essentially Internet phone
numbers-which are listed in a directory on the site. Members can
connect to others via streaming video, voice mail or e-mail using
NetMeeting or CU-SeeMe. "Videoconferencing is going to the
Web," insists visitalk.com's Anne Price. "This is an
option that small businesses didn't have before."

And finally, there are places that will set up your
streaming-video meeting for you. Kinko's and Sprint have teamed
up to provide packages with joint video-conferencing and streaming
video-check out www.sprint.com/icc for details. But
keep in mind that at least for now, this option tends to cost more
than investing in your own system.

Cybersuccess

If you decide to dive headlong into digital video either now or
later, be aware that the technology itself requires some advance
planning and that going live online will create a whole new
dynamic. Here are some tips for getting the most out of the
experience:

Use TV-friendly
interviewers. Make sure the people conducting the
interviews are comfortable being on camera. Remember, they are
representing your company, and you don't want them to look
distracted or upset in front of potential employees, who may
already be nervous. To help, give interviewers some practice in
front of a video camera and have others offer constructive
criticism.

Always have a backup plan.
Make sure there's a phone nearby or you can access e-mail
fairly quickly to contact the party on the other end if your
connection fails. Right now, chances are, you'll have problems
with the connection. (Smith's ex-perience as an interviewee is
that getting connected to begin with is often the hardest part.)
Make sure that prior to the interview, you figure out how
you'll quickly reconnect if the line goes down. Knowing what to
do if things disintegrate can alleviate stress on both sides of the
screen.

Streaming what? Video
interviewing is still relatively new, and many job seekers may
never have heard of it (much less experienced it). Don't be
surprised if interviewees aren't familiar with this type of
technology and be prepared to acquaint them with the process. By
planning ahead, you'll feel more comfortable-which will help
you make your initial recruiting decisions. Plus, planning ahead
will surely save you some time and money down the line.